James Milligan (5 April 1928 – 28 November 1961, Basel) was a Canadian singer who appeared in concerts and operas from the early 1950s until his death in 1961 at the age of 33.
[8][1] Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia,[1] James Milligan spent his childhood in Winnipeg, Manitoba where his father was a minister in the United Church of Canada.
[10][11] On March 21, 1951, he made his first significant appearance as an oratorio singer as the bass soloist in Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO), the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (TMC), tenor William Morton, soprano Lois Marshall, contralto Margaret Stilwell, and harpsichordist Greta Kraus; a performance recorded live for broadcast on CBC Radio.
[13] In 1954 he appeared at Carnegie Hall as the bass soloist in performances of both the St Matthew Passion and George Frideric Handel's Messiah.
[14] By 1954 he had progressed to larger parts with the company; and that year he was heard as Marcello in La bohème, Monterone in Rigoletto, and Cancian in I quatro rusteghi.
[1] In 1961, just four months prior to his death, he gave a critically lauded performance at the Bayreuth Festival as Wotan disguised as The Wanderer in Richard Wagner's Siegfried which brought him international recognition as a top Wagnerian singer.